Anna Mayor Dan Murphy says interest in operating the restaurant and bait shop at the Anna Maria City Pier is high.
“Interest has been brisk thus far from restaurateurs,” Murphy wrote in a Feb. 21 email to The Islander.
However, he declined to name names.
The pier, 100 S. Bay Blvd., Anna Maria, was closed and then demolished after being damaged by Hurricane Irma in September 2017.
Work to build a new pier began in 2018 and, in 2019, the city conducted lease negotiations with pier tenant Mario Schoenfelder, who had operated the bait shop and restaurant for nearly 20 years on the old pier.
Schoenfelder’s lease will expire in December but rent was abated after the city forced the pier to close without repairs after the hurricane damage.
The lease negotiations concluded with the city rejecting the offer from Schoenfelder. The city followed by putting out a request for proposals for a new tenant.
The city will hold a non-mandatory pre-bid meeting for potential pier tenants at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 26.
And the bid opening will be at 1 p.m. March 10.
Meanwhile, Murphy, in the email, said work continues on pier construction.
“The commercial power remains an open issue,” he wrote, referring to work by Florida Power & Light.
FPL did not return multiple requests for comment and delay remains unknown, pushing the opening of the pier for anglers later in March.
The next regular meeting of the city commission will be at 6 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 27, at city hall, 10005 Gulf Drive, Anna Maria.
Correction
Mayor Dan Murphy responded Feb. 7 by email to an inquiry from The Islander requesting information on the pier RFP and the pier opening. The reporter erred in interpreting the mayor’s response, which stated, “Opening 3-10 1:00 PM.” The mayor later clarified that 1 p.m. March 10 is the RFP opening date and the pier opening had been delayed by FPL.
Here’s a prediction on the bids for the Anna Maria pier restaurant.
As I understand it, the lessor who was operating the restaurant at the time it was damaged offered $12,000 a month — his old rental rate — and that was rejected and he was told to resubmit a bid.
He did, this time for $8,000 a month.
I’m curious to see what kind of bids the restaurant will bring now that a new “floor” of $8,000 a month has been set. I’m guessing it won’t be anywhere near the $20,000+ number the city seeks.
I’ll predict bids will range from $8,000 to $12,000 and nothing Substantially higher.